State university tuition costs on the rise

New York Times : Public universities, heavily subsidized by the state, used to provide a less expensive option for undergraduate education in the US. But now the cost is rising because tuition payments, not state appropriations, are covering more of the budget. According to the Delta Cost Project, most of the nation’s public research universities had more than half their costs paid by tuition in 2008, and other four-year public institutions were hovering near the 50% mark. And the burden on students is likely to keep growing. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 30 states face shortfalls of at least 10% of their budgets next year.